


Strings Between Strangers

by nerdzeword



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, HP: EWE, Post War, Red String of Fate, Soulmate AU, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 17:51:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14141313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdzeword/pseuds/nerdzeword
Summary: Draco has been able to see the strings for a while, but he never imagined he'd ever find the other end of his own.





	Strings Between Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> Sup friends! I have I crazy amount of love for soulmate AU's (all AU's really, but soulmate AU's especially.) There just aren't enough of them for Harry Potter, so I decided to contribute. Enjoy!
> 
> (As always, JK owns my heart and the Harry Potter universe.)

Draco had never believed in fate, he had always assumed that the people who talked about fate were making things up to make themselves feel better. That is, until he started to see the strings. They weren’t a tactile thing, at least- not at first. It was more of an ethereal thing, a vision. 

It was a long time before he realized what they were.

He only started seeing the strings after hogwarts ended, though he was uncertain as to why he saw them. It was small things at first, a couple walking down the street with hands entwined, string wrapped around them like a marriage ribbon. A boy waving to his friend across the street, string strung between their pinkies. A trip to the library and several hours later, he was armed with the realization that he was one of a ‘select few’ who could see the red string of fate.

All he could think was that he was the person least equipped to see some magical love string.

It was three months before Draco noticed the string on his own pinkie. He considered following it once, seeing who the universe thought would be perfect for him. But he didn’t, his soulmate deserved better than him anyway. 

It was four more months before he met someone else who could see them. Or rather, re-met. He was sitting in the park, watching a young couple whose string shone a bright red. 

“They’re rather bright aren’t they?” Draco turned to see none other than Luna Lovegood standing behind him.

“You see them too?” he thought that he shouldn’t be surprised, of course Luna  _ Lovegood  _ could see the strings.

“I’ve always been able to. Not many people believe in them these days though.” she sat down in the grass beside him, and tucked her skirt around her legs. Despite her distinctive oddness, and the silly radish earrings that she still insisted on wearing, Draco thought that they could have been siblings they looked so similar. 

“Have you met yours yet?” He asked her after a moment. She smiled.

“No. Not yet. He’s far away right now.” She looked over at him. “You haven’t realized yours yet either.”

“Realized?”

“Oh, you’ve met her.”

“Really? Who is she?”

“I do not meddle in fate Draco, simply direct.” he gave her a small smile.

“Sounds like something someone who doesn’t actually know would say.” She laughed and looked over at him, pushing a strand of her hair out of her face.  

“I’m glad you found your true self Draco. You’re much better this way.” Draco made a noncommittal noise, but nodded anyway. He hadn’t even realized he had changed. Funny how that worked.

 

In the next few months, Draco and Luna became relatively close, to the point where his friend Blaise would joke that they were actually long lost siblings. Still, he never told anyone else about the strings. It didn’t stop him from meddling however, when he and Luna hosted a party and they noticed that Theo Nott and Percy Weasley had a particularly bright string. 

“I never imagined that I’d ever have a Weasley at one of my parties.” He commented to Luna after introducing the two of them. Before she could respond however, he noticed the one Weasley he still couldn’t get along with, and made a quick escape. He sometimes forgot that Luna was friends with the ‘golden trio’. He sometimes forgot that a lot of people still hated him.

 

It was a year and a half after his friendship with Luna took off before he found Hermione Granger knocking on the door of his flat, her redheaded sidekick in tow. 

“Can I help you Granger?” He asked her, trying his best not to be rude. He didn’t even bother looking at Weasley, that was a lost cause. 

“Malfoy?” She stuttered slightly, then recovered and stood up straight again. “Luna gave us your address, said you can see the red string of fate?” Draco sighed and opened his door wider to let them in. If Luna sent them, he couldn’t turn them away without at least hearing them out first. He sometimes hated his adopted sister. 

“Did she also mention that she can see the strings just as well?” He asked dryly, leading them into the living room. They sat down together on the couch, Hermione tucking her skirt beneath her legs neatly. Weasley just glared. Draco wondered if he even wanted to be there, or if Hermione had made him come.  It didn’t matter either way he supposed. “Tea?” He asked.

“Please!” Said Hermione with a small smile. Draco liked her smile, it was nice, it reminded him of Luna. He summoned the batch of tea he had coincidentally just started. 

“So. What can I do for you?”

“Well, we just recently got engaged and Luna mentioned that she knew someone who could see the red string of fate. I thought that it would be interesting to talk to you and see what you had to say about it. I’ve always found the idea of the string of fate fascinating.” Draco watched her thoughtfully, then looked down at her hands, which were clutched tightly around her teacup. Before he could follow the brightly glowing string that was tied around her pinkie, he looked back up at her again. 

“Are you sure you want this? What if the answer isn’t what you want to hear?”

“I’d rather know now, than five years from now.” She answered immediately. Weasley looked like he was going to protest, but held his tongue at her sharp look.

“Alright then.” He looked back down at her hands and followed the string. It was immediately obvious that it didn’t lead to Weasley. Instead it wound around the room, finally coming to an end at his own hand. He stood there in shock for a minute. Then followed Weasley’s much dimmer string through the wall. Well that answered that question.

He took a deep breath and let himself consider his options. He could tell them the truth, but that would only result in Weasley trashing his flat. And besides, they would never believe him anyway, he was just the nuisance that bullied them in school, why should they? Besides, she liked Weasley, what right did he have to ruin that?

“Congratulations.” He said. Weasley grinned and stood up, pulling Hermione behind him. 

“Great. Come on Hermione, let's go celebrate!”  Hermione however, hadn’t taken her eyes off of Draco, and she had a puzzled look on her face. Draco gave her a wan smile and escorted them to the door. He needed to call Luna.

 

Malfoy was hiding something. That was the only thing Hermione could think about after Ron pulled her out of Malfoy’s flat. Hermione had no idea what he could possibly be hiding,she’d have thought he would be more likely to take pride in telling them that they weren’t meant to be. That had been what she had been expecting after all. 

Hermione made up her mind. As soon as she was able, she was going back to Draco’s to figure out what was really going on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until several hours later that she was able to escape from Ron and sneak back. She stood on the mat, hand poised to knock when she heard Draco’s voice echo through the wooden door.

“Why did you send them to me Luna?” He demanded.

“I thought you would take the opportunity to actually do something for yourself for once. You’ve helped so many people Draco, you deserve happiness just like the rest of us.” 

“No I don’t! I don’t deserve this, I don’t even deserve you! And what was I even supposed to even say to them? They’re engaged! Not to mention they hated me all the way through school! How are they going to react to me saying ‘oh no you’re not soulmates, but hey Granger, looks like you’re destined to be with me. Funny that.’” Hermione stifled a gasp. That explained his weird expression then.

“Oh Draco.”

“No Luna, she’s got someone, she loves him. I’m not going to ruin that for her.”

“Even though it means you lose her?” 

“Lu, she was never mine to lose.” Hermione knocked loudly before she lost the guts. Draco opened the door, looking quite a bit more worn than he had earlier that day.

“Granger?” 

“I want to know why you lied, and what you’re hiding.”

“Excuse me?” she brushed past him as he blinked stupidly at her. 

“Please Draco, you’re not that good of a liar. Besides, I know you’re wrong. Ron and I aren’t soulmates, never have been. I actually came to you so I could get a second opinion that I could use to help explain why we just don’t work. Of course, I wasn’t expecting my second opinion to come from you.” She paced the room as she talked, waving her hands the way she always did when she was nervous. He blinked at her.

“You were using me to help you break up with your fiance?” She sighed and rubbed her forehead in distress.

“Well, yes. But I really do love him and never wanted to break his heart, and I just figured, having someone else tell him would just be… simpler.”

“Why didn’t you just, I dunno. Not agree to marry him in the first place!” He snapped at her, and Hermione wondered if his opinion of her just dropped so far that he would never agree to date her at all, soulmates or not. She groaned and flopped down on his couch 

“It’s not that simple! He proposed in front of dozens of people! What was I supposed to do?” 

“Say no?”

“I know that now!” She wailed. Luna watched the two of them with one of her dreamy smiles that always made it seem like she knew something no one else did. Draco sighed and sunk down onto the couch next to her. 

“What do you want to know?”

“Why did you lie?” He shrugged nonchalantly, but Hermione noted the tenseness in his shoulders.

“I didn’t think you’d believe me.” That may have been true, had Hermione not already known that she and Ron weren’t meant to last.

“Do you know who our soulmates actually are?” She asked him. His head shot up and his eyes bore into hers. It was a moment before he answered.

“I have no idea whose Weasley’s is”

“And mine?” he ran his tongue across his lips.

“I have an inkling.”

“Care to fill me in?” he gave a small and slightly bitter laugh.

“You wouldn’t believe me.” He said sadly, and Hermione realized with a jolt, just how rough Draco had to have had it after the war. Not everyone had the advantage of being on the winning side. Her heart suddenly broke for this man, who had never been her friend, but she felt like she knew better than anyone else anyway. 

“Draco. Who is it.” She almost didn’t hear his response.

“Me. It’s me.” Hermione stared at his hands, which were anxiously combing through his hair; trying to imagine a little red string connecting his hand to hers. Then she imagined what it would be like to hold his hand. She bet they were warm. But in a good way. Ron’s hands had always been just a little bit sweaty, and they always felt too big to her. Draco’s hands looked smaller. 

She bet they would fit in hers perfectly.

Hermione made a split second decision and took his hand. He stared at her, mouth agape.

“You know, two years ago, I might not have believed you. But I’ve seen everything you’ve done since the war Draco. You’re changing. The fact that you’re friends with Luna attests to that. Draco, you may not have been welcomed as a hero after the war, and people may never see you as one, but you’re trying to be a better person, and that makes you a hero in my book.” He snorted.

“You think much too highly of me Granger.” She shrugged.

“Maybe so, but I know what I feel, and it most certainly is not hatred. Not anymore.” he pulled his hand from hers and stood up. 

“Doesn’t matter. You still haven’t broken up with Weasley, and even as far as I’ve fallen, I don’t intend to be anyone’s dirty little secret.” Hermione shook her head and opened her mouth to protest, but realized that it wouldn’t do any good. She needed a plan. and fast. There was no way she was going to lose her soulmate just because she made the mistake of giving into peer pressure. 

Luna smiled at her and Hermione wondered how anything managed to get past her, or if indeed, anything did. 

“I will see you around then Draco.” She told him before walking out of the flat. She had work to do.

 

Draco didn’t hear from Hermione for another three weeks, and he assumed she had simply given up on him, or thought him a fake. Not that he would blame her. Sometimes he himself had a hard time believing that  _ Hermione Granger _ was his soulmate. But then he thought about all of the debates he had started with her over the years, and the number of times he found himself watching her, physically incapable of looking away. Draco thought that if you counted all of the times his feelings for her had been something close to respect, rather than distaste, then it really wasn’t so odd. Plus she had told him she thought he was a hero. Hermione Granger didn’t say things she didn’t mean. Which implied that she was telling the truth. She was completely batty. But she was telling the truth.

The next time he saw Hermione Granger, she was on his doorstep again. Draco blinked a few times, just to make sure that it was really her. She looked gorgeous. Well, more gorgeous than usual. 

“Granger.” He greeted her, a bit uncertainly. 

“Draco, you can call me Hermione, we are soulmates after all.”

“How do you know I didn’t make that up?” He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. This sort of banter was normal. It was safe. If she tried to seriously talk about feelings however, he was screwed. Draco didn’t do feelings. For most of his life, he actually assumed he didn’t have them. Hermione seemed like the sort of person that overflowed with feelings however. She was the sort of person who cried over injustice and yelled and screamed at the world when she was angry. She was the kind of person who would dedicate all of her love and attention to him if he let her. 

Which was exactly why he was never going to let her in. Hermione Granger deserved to be loved in return, and by Merlin, Draco was going to make sure she understood that was never going to be him. Which was why she was never coming into his flat again. 

The only problem was that Draco was fairly certain if she turned her giant brown, doe eyes on him, and gave him that  _ look.  _ That he would submit to her every whim. And if she decided to get Luna to help her? He was done for. 

She snorted at him. “Please Draco, you can drop the act. I know you didn’t make it up. And I know for a fact that you have a heart underneath all of that git. And I’m going to prove it.” Draco smirked at her. He noticed she never had answered his question.

“Oh really? And how are you going to do that?” She leaned forward until her nose was nearly touching his, and smirked. It was all Draco could do not to lean backwards away from her. While he could stop himself from leaning backwards, he couldn’t stop himself from noticing that she had small flecks of gold in her eyes, and her nose and cheeks were dotted by almost imperceptible freckles. Shit.

“I’m going to take you out. There’s a ministry ball this weekend and you are going to be my date.” She leaned back and he raised an eyebrow at her. 

“And if I refuse?”

“I believe you already promised your mother you would go last week.” Draco dropped his nonchalant facade and gaped at her. 

“You were scheming with my mother!” Draco now understood why it took her three weeks to show up. He had only told his mother that he would accompany her to the ball a few days prior. She had asked him shortly after Hermione’s first visit. 

“If that failed, I was going to ask Luna for help, so I would suggest you count your stars. Luna is much less subtle.”

“Women are trouble.” Draco muttered under his breath before standing up straight. “Fine. I’ll go. But that’s the last time you see me. I mean it Granger.”

“Draco please, I told you to call me Hermione.” She smiled at him, then skipped off in a very Luna-esque manner. And Draco realized that she never did say if she had broken up with Weasley. He supposed he would find out on Saturday.  If she hadn’t, it was sure to be entertaining for him at least. He ignored the pang in his heart at the thought of Hermione still with Weasley.

 

Hermione had broken up with Ron the day after visiting with Draco. It was even harder than she had imagined it would be, but she decided that the weight lifted off her chest meant it was worth it in the end. No matter how much she’d had to hurt him.  

It had taken some time and effort to convince Narcissa to help her in her quest for Draco’s heart, but the three hour tea had paid off nicely. It had driven her crazy to wait for Narcissa to tell her when Draco had finally agreed, but she was glad that she did when she saw the look of pure confoundment on his face at her admission she had gone to his mother for help. He looked rather cute there, gaping like a fish. Hermione wasn’t sure why she felt so different about Draco now, it wasn’t as if either of them had truly changed in the last three weeks. But she did. 

And even though she didn’t show it, she desperately wanted him to give her a chance. She needed to prove to him, and to herself, that there was something good in him, something she could love. Luna had seen it in him, and after some prodding, Hermione had seen it in him. She just wanted Draco to see it too. 

 

Draco apparated onto her front porch the night of the ball, having had the address shoved into his hand by Luna. If he was being honest with himself, he was actually kind of looking forward to going to the ball with Hermione. He had spent so long wondering who the universe felt he was destined for that actually knowing, and having the opportunity to actually spend time with her, was a bit thrilling. Not that he would ever let her know that. 

He knocked on her door with a sigh, he would go to this party, probably get really smashed, because that’s what he did every time his mother dragged him to one of the ministry balls, and then go home alone to wallow in his guilt and misery. Quite frankly, with a schedule like that, he was much too busy to fall in love with Granger. He studiously ignored the voice in his head that said that he was already halfway there, and had been since school. What was taking her so long anyway? 

Draco’s hand was halfway to the door to knock again, when it opened, and he felt his arm drop to his side in shock. He had seen her at all of the balls in the two years since the war, and yeah, she had looked gorgeous at all of those, but there was something about her this time that was kind of… ethereal. Maybe it was the fact that her hair was down for the first time since the war, longer and thicker than ever. Maybe it was the dress she wore, which was unlike any other ball gown he had ever seen, and he had seen a lot of them, draping around her figure in delicate waves. 

“Your hair is down.” was all he could think to say. She blushed slightly and took his offered hand. 

“Yes, well, Ron never liked my hair down, he said it got in the way, so I always made a habit of keeping it up. Since we broke up I’ve started wearing it down again. After all, what’s the point of having long hair if you’re just going to have it tied up all the time?” So they had broken up. That could make the night very interesting very fast. Or make it very boring. One could never tell with these things.

“Well if it helps, I think it looks lovely.” She grinned brightly at him and they strode towards the apparation point. Draco struggled to keep his features neutral. 

“So how does the whole string of fate thing work? Have you always been able to see it? Do you sometimes help people find their soulmates?” Hermione questioned him as he led her to their table upon their arrival. He was relieved to discover that they had been seated with Luna and Blaise, who had decided to come as friends. 

“I started seeing the strings after Hogwarts. Luna figures that I would have seen them earlier but I was ‘a little stressed.’” He made air quotes with his fingers as he cursed his inability to stop responding to her questions. He was a pro at ignoring dates, why couldn’t he ignore her? The answer was, of course, that he didn’t want to. “And the whole soulmates thing is actually a misnomer. The red string of fate draws you close to someone who is meant to make a large difference in your life. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are destined for you in a romantic fashion.”

“So the string  _ is _ red then.” 

“Yes.”

“It glows too!” Luna chimed in lightly

“Glows?” Hermione glanced between them with interest. 

“Sort of. People who are near to their person tend to have brighter strings, than those who are far away. For instance, Luna’s string is kind of a dull pink because apparently her person is off travelling or something.” He pointed to Theo and Percy across the room, who’s string was wrapped around their ankles as they spoke to another couple across the room.

“Theo and Percy’s string is really bright, and has been since Luna and I introduced them a while back. The couple they’re speaking to’s string is kind of dim though, that means they’re most likely in an argument of some sort. Or they’re in the wrong type of relationship. I’ve seen that happen before too.” Hermione looked between the two couples, completely fascinated. 

“So does everyone have a string?” Draco shook his head no. 

“Blaise over there is a good example of someone who doesn’t have a string. I’ve seen others that have two. Luna saw someone with three once.” Luna shook her head sadly. 

“So much tragedy.” 

“So what happens if one person dies?” Draco and Luna looked at one another and shrugged. 

“I haven’t seen it happen yet. Could be why Blaise doesn’t have one.” Blaise raised his glass. 

“Just means I’m open to anyone!” He winked at Hermione, who just laughed. Draco resisted the urge to growl or do something equally stupid and possessive. Hermione wasn’t his, Blaise had every right to make googly eyes at her.

“Do you want to dance?” Hermione turned and asked him, jolting Draco out of his reverie. He shrugged.

“I guess.” he took her hand and led her to the dance floor, pleasantly surprised to discover that she actually knew how to dance. Draco really shouldn’t have been all that surprised, this was Hermione Granger he was talking about. She knew everything. Unfortunately he thought that probably included how he had been avoiding talking about feelings and their own soul bond all night. He just had to have a string match with the smartest witch of their era.

 

Hermione was sure that Draco was avoiding the topic of.. Well,  _ them.  _ If it wasn’t too personal, he was more than willing to answer any and all of her questions. That included questions about his business, how seeing the strings worked for him, and Luna. As soon as she mentioned his family though, he shut down. She had spent the last 15 minutes trying to get him to open back up again, having finally succeeded with asking him about the strings of the people they danced past. 

“What about them?” She nodded at a couple over his shoulder, and he spun them around, so he could see who she was referring to. 

“The couple with the matching big noses?” He asked, obviously ignoring the smack and the small exclamation of “Draco!” that followed. Hermione felt bad, but that was the first thing she had thought upon seeing them as well.

“Yes.”

“They do have a string. It’s not very bright though, which means they’re probably fighting over whose fault it is that all of their children have giant noses.” 

“That’s so mean!” She exclaimed, but it didn’t stop her from laughing. Draco spun them around again and she spotted a splash of red hair that didn’t belong to any of the other Weasleys in attendance. (Draco had already taken note of their positions “just in case”. Apparently Harry and Ginny had one of the brightest strings he had seen in a long time.) 

“Draco. Two o'clock.” she warned him, before the familiar face of her ex- fiance and probably ex- friend, spotted them across the dancefloor. She felt Draco stiffen as he spotted the same thing. Hermione already missed the ease she had found in his arms. Ron came to a halt in front of her. Hermione spotted Luna stand up off to her right as well, but it looked like her blonde friend was waiting to get involved. 

“Hermione.” Hermione nodded to him, but didn’t let go of Draco’s hand. “You look well.” He forced. Ron did not look well. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, and he was sporting a bit of stubble. Hermione felt a bit guilty for his current state, but told herself it was better it happened now rather than later. After all, she wasn’t the only one with a soulmate out there. 

“Ron.” She greeted back. 

“Can we talk?” she could tell that he didn’t think she would say yes. 

“Of course.” She let go of Draco’s hand and looked up at him.

“You don’t mind do you?” he shook his head 

“I’ll be over by Luna if you need me.” he told her. Hermione smiled and turned back towards her ex boyfriend. Time to get this over with.

 

Draco wandered back to Luna who just handed him a glass. 

“That went better than you were expecting.” She stated. With anyone else, it would have been a casual statement. But Luna wasn’t anyone else, and the comment was a question. 

“I’m fine.” 

“You’re not.”

“You’re right. But I don’t want to talk about it.” She nodded and looked back at the former couple.

“You know she’s not going to change her mind right?” Leave it to Luna to pinpoint exactly what he had been worried about. But then again, he shouldn’t have been surprised, it was Luna after all. 

He looked back over at her and noticed a flash of green. Before he could even process, instinct kicked in and he shoved Luna out of the way and toppled to the floor himself. The curse hit the bouquet of flowers on the table behind them instead, turning them to ash instantly. His wand was out in his hand within a second and he looked up to find the source of the spell, only to see another flash of green light. Only this one was headed towards Hermione. His stomach dropped and his breath caught in his chest as he did the only thing he could think of, and shot a spell at them. He had just enough time to see Hermione topple into Weasley and send them both crashing to the ground, before everyone else in the room had their wands out and pointed at him. 

Wasn’t that just great. 

Luna stood up and reached over to help him up. 

“Don’t move!” Kingsley said, pushing his way through the crowd. Draco sighed. Someone, he wasn’t even sure who, took his wand and Kingsley put him in an incarcerous. Luna was yelling at Kingsley now, but as usual, he was ignoring her. Who cared was Looney Lovegood had to say? Luna had complained about it to him once, in a drunken fit. Luna was a good friend if you wanted an extra hand breaking into a government building or defeating a mad man. But heaven forbid she have thoughts and opinions outside of immediate danger. 

That was the day Draco vowed to never take his pseudo-sister for granted. 

“Luna. Luna!” He said. She stopped ranting and turned to look at him. He almost smiled at the fury in her eyes. “It’s fine.” if anything, she got even angrier. Then she slapped him.

“You listen to me Draco Malfoy, I don’t ever want to hear you say that again! You saved my life, you are a  _ hero. _ And I won’t stand for  _ anyone  _ saying different!” She turned back to Kingsley. “While you’ve spent all this time trying to arrest the man who saved my life, you have probably let the real culprit get away!” Her hair had started to spark with the force of her anger, and Kingsley took an involuntary step back. 

“Luna-”

“She’s right you know.” The crowd parted to let Ginny Potter through. She was dragging an incarcerated man by his hair. “Or she would be, if Hermione and I hadn’t immediately gone after the source of the two killing curses that were shot off instead of wrongly accusing an innocent man.” She threw the man down at Kingsley’s feet and Draco noticed Hermione standing slightly behind her, looking even angrier than Luna. 

“Draco Malfoy has saved no less than three lives tonight. Release him.  _ Now. _ ” Draco thought that unlike Luna, Hermione had probably never had anyone ignore her. Not when she had that tone of voice. Kingsley dropped the binds on Draco and stepped back. Luna helped him stand up and he watched Hermione lay into the Minister of Magic with righteous fury. Ginny Potter seemed to be helping, but that notion was just a bit too much for Draco to take in, so he ignored it. 

Within a couple of minutes, Potter and Weasley appeared with a lookalike to the man the girls had caught. 

“He was tied up in the bathroom.” Harry declared, pulling the man forward. Someone handed Draco back his wand. He still wasn’t sure who had taken it in the first place. Ron stepped forward and shook Draco’s hand.

“Thanks for the save mate.” Draco shook his hand, but didn’t respond. Hermione smiled at him, and took his arm to lead him outside. She was silent for a minute as they stood on the steps of the hall. 

“I told you that you were a hero.”

“I’m not.”

“You saved three people!”

“I did one heroic thing Granger. That doesn’t make me a hero. Why are you so determined to make me out to be a good guy? I’m not a good guy. I’ve done horrible, horrible things. I bullied you and your friends for years. No matter how much you want to believe that I’m secretly a good person, I’m not.” she opened her mouth to protest but he continued. 

“You say you want to try and make this work, well you’re going to have to get this through your head. People hate me. People have good reason to hate me. And no amount of trying to be better is going to change the fact that there are a lot of people I have hurt. You may have forgiven me for some Merlin forsaken reason, but not everyone has, and there are a lot of people who will start to hate you for being with me. You can’t change what I’ve done. And you can’t change people’s minds Hermione. All the good intentions in the world won’t bring people’s families back.” He turned and walked a ways away before apparating home. 

Stupid Granger, with her stupid morals and stupid belief that everyone was somehow just troubled. He fell into bed more than a little depressed, sure that he had probably just scared away his last chance at love. 

 

Hermione knocked on his door the next morning with some trepidation. He was right. Damn him. She had been trying to convince him that he was something he wasn’t, just because she wanted him to be a good guy. She wanted to believe that Draco would be her Prince Charming and sweep her off her feet. But he wasn’t, not really. He was rude, and blunt and a bit cold. And yes, he had done some really horrible things during the war. Hermione had pushed away all of those feelings for the sake of some imaginary fairytale romance.

Draco obviously had good qualities, he wouldn’t be friends with Luna if he didn’t. But now that Hermione really thought about it, she wasn’t really sure what those qualities were. So many of the attributes she had liked about him had been in her head. 

He opened the door, looking disheveled and still wearing the trousers he had been wearing the night before. 

“Granger.” He greeted before wandering into the kitchen, leaving the front door wide open. Hermione took that as an invitation to enter and followed him into the kitchen. She watched him put on a pot of coffee and putter around the kitchen not meeting her eyes. 

“You were right.” She interrupted him. He stopped moving completely. “You were right. I was projecting. I don’t even really know you.” she watched his stiffened shoulders drop with something that looked a lot like defeat. 

“I don’t know you Draco Malfoy. But I would like to.”  he turned around and looked her in the eye for the first time that day. 

“You don’t mean that.” Hermione shrugged and jumped up to sit on his counters. For someone who was supposedly rich, his flat really was quite tiny. He looked a bit annoyed at her actions but didn’t tell her to get off.

“I do actually. Luna isn’t friends with just anyone you know. I would like to see what she sees in you. And believe it or not, I don’t think you know that much about me either. I’m not exactly the goody two shoes that everyone assumes.” She looked back up at him and grinned slightly at his look of complete bafflement. “So what do you say Malfoy? Do you want to try this?” Draco continued to stare at her before a small smile overtook his own face. 

“You might want to start calling me Draco. People will talk if you continue to call me Malfoy.” she grinned widely at him.

“Says the man who has used my first name in conversation maybe three times?”

“Touché.” 


End file.
